Pope Benedict

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tuesday, February 12, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Planning for papal retirement

When a parish priest retires he’s supposed to head for the hills. His successor doesn’t want him hanging around the parish undermining the new regime.

It’s much the same with the handover of power in any organization. The one leaving is supposed to do just that. When you step down you should lay low and let the new guy strut his stuff.

But what happens when a pontiff exchanges the white soutane for an old black cassock? What happens when he puts aside the miter and crozier for an old felt hat and a walking stick? What’s to do when he swaps the throne of Peter for an easy chair?

We’ve never seen anything like it. A pope retires. First he’s headed off to the papal mountain retreat Castel Gandolfo. Then we’re told that he will live in monastic type setting within the Vatican. He will revert to his previous status as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Then what? What must it be like for a new vicar of Christ to have the former head of a billion Catholics living on his doorstep? Won’t it be a strain to have Joseph Ratzinger around? Will he slip into a side door of St Peter’s to say Mass every morning? Will he worship at the high altar with the other bishops? Will he sit in the consistory to vote for his successor? Won’t he be looking over the shoulder of his successor every chance he gets?

I don’t think so. Knowing the man as we have come to know him, we have seen a truly humble and gentle person. Joseph Ratzinger is essentially a shy and retiring scholar. He’s a musician and yet the quintessential quiet man. (Source: Washington Post)

FEEDBACK

Letter to the Editor:

We subscribe to The Hamilton Spectator and a national daily newspaper. The treatment of the resignation of Pope Benedict was treated quite differently.

The Spec introduced the story at the bottom of the front page. The other paper treated it as the main story on the front page, followed by two full pages inside.

The Spec editorial cartoon pictured the Pope being pushed into a coffee shop on a small, wheeled platform toward a table with three seniors, one of whom declares “Better shove over and make room for Mister Infallible.” The other paper pictured St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. A hand reaching from the clouds above posted a sign “Help Wanted.”

It should be noted that although I am retired, nobody told me Pope Benedict made even one infallible statement or decision in his almost eight years of leading the Catholic Church.

(Rev.) R. Cote, Hamilton

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I believe in freedom of expression, but the Feb. 12 cartoon of Pope Benedict was a despicable, outrageous, disrespectful rendering of a holy, learned man who heads the Catholic Church and has spoken and written to rulers and peoples everywhere calling for peace, justice and recognition of the dignity of every human being.

N. Winslow, Beamsville

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The cartoon portraying Pope Benedict in an unflattering way did a disservice both to the Pope and the many Catholics who respect his decision to step down. The decision was courageous and reflects the Pope’s clear understanding of himself and the needs of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict has championed the Christian principle of forgiving, and he would no doubt feel compelled to forgive the editorial cartoonist and the editorial board. The Pope and The Spectator’s readers deserves better.

M. Ronney, Hamilton

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From a clergyman to the Spectator Publisher…

The Cartoon in Tuesday’s Spectator portraying Pope Benedict in an unflattering way was in my opinion, unfair and disrespectful to a Pope who has served his Church and the world well. I cannot understand what the Spectator thought they would achieve by printing that cartoon. Pope Benedict deserves better. My first reaction was to say “enough is enough”…time to cancel my subscription to the Spectator, and to encourage many others to do the same.

Why Sir did you and your colleagues permit this cartoon to appear?

Michael Ronney, Hamilton

In response, from Spectator Editor-in-Chief:

First, thank you for letting us know your thoughts on this cartoon. To be sure, it was not to everyone’s liking, and we apologize for upsetting your sensibilities. The cartoon was meant to be playful and humorous, but I accept that you (and others) did not find it funny. Personally, I saw the cartoon not as disrespectful, but as humanizing the Pope, in a way that many of our readers can relate to. Like most newspapers, we give editorial cartoonists wide latitude to comment on news events.

Thank you again for letting us know your thoughts. We appreciate it.

Paul Berton

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PAUL BERTON: Satire and Pope a volatile mix
If you ask some Catholics, The Spectator has always had a bias against their religion.

Apparently, we demonstrate this regularly in our coverage of everything from high school sports to homosexuality to condom use.

The last straw for some came this week with an editorial cartoon by The Spectator’s Graeme MacKay marking the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

It may have been the biggest news of the week, and so was predictably the focus of many editorial cartoons around the world.

Some readers I spoke with on the phone and corresponded with this week were less than impressed with The Spectator’s offering, to say the least.

MacKay’s cartoon, which you can view at thespec.com, imagined the Pope joining one of those ubiquitous coffee klatches where retirees gather at a diner to catch up, reminisce, discuss various ailments and gently poke fun at each other.

I have attended many such gatherings (as an observer or guest” and probably soon as a regular participant) and always find them heartwarming and fun in a mischievous way.

Indeed, I found the cartoon, in which the gang dubs their newest member “Mr. Infallible,” heartwarming, and as I said to outraged readers, I thought it humanized the Pope.

Admittedly, I am not Catholic, and some with whom I spoke did not agree.

Instead, they used words such as “disgusting,” “unfair,” “unflattering” “mocking,” “denigrating,” “disrespectful,” “mean-spirited” “derogatory,” “unacceptable,” “unprovoked,” “hate speech” “Catholic-bashing,” “petty,” “small-minded” …

It was not our intention to offend, but some wondered if we would have poked fun at other religious leaders in a similar way.

We asked ourselves that very question. The problem is, there isn’t exactly an equivalent of the Pope in other religions.

I suspect the Dalai Lama might have found the cartoon both funny and humanizing if he was featured, though I can’t say how Tibetan Buddhists would have reacted.

It’s not often a pope retires, but editors would have been comfortable if a cartoon had poked similar fun at the Archbishop of Canterbury.

It’s true, for all kinds of complex reasons, we do not depict Mohammed in cartoons. Nor, says cartoonist MacKay, would he have made fun of Jesus Christ.

That said, MacKay has had at least one of his pope cartoons in the past rejected by The Spectator, while others invariably cause reaction. And for the record, in past cartoons he has featured also the Dalai Lama, Islamic clerics, Muslims, Hindu gods and at least one Anglican archbishop, not always in a flattering way.

Meanwhile, there were many other cartoons this week marking the Pope’s unprecedented decision to resign.

Some were polite, but made no comment; they were merely illustrations marking a news event. That is not the point of an editorial cartoon.

Others were more critical indeed, though I won’t go into any details.

Meanwhile, this particular Pope has been subject to what can only be described as vicious attacks from cartoonists around the world over the years. Ironically, many of the most vicious come from cartoonists working for publications in predominantly Catholic countries.

I shudder to think what the editors faced following their publication there.

Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator and thespec.com. You can reach him at 905-526-3482 or pberton@thespec.com.

July 11, 2009

Coming after last week’s allegations that the Prime Minister pocketed a communion wafer during the mass of Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc’s funeral:

Mr. Mackay,

You have greatly offended me as a Catholic with your editorial cartoon of July 11th , showing Mr. Harper digging into his pocket for a host.

Perhaps you are not aware that Holy Communion is indeed that. Holy and Communion. It is The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ and a sacred sacrament in the Church.

Jesus is Lord, the Son of God and surely you did not mean to bring disrespect on the Almighty.

I cant imagine you would have made such a thoughtless and offensive cartoon had you known in what bad taste it was.

Please apologize.

Sincerely,
P——- C—–

April 17, 2008

My boss declared with amazement this morning that a whole day went by and he didn’t hear one single complaint about yesterday’s cartoon as shown above. It’s the same boss who, early in his role as the Spec’s editorial page balked at running a relatively tame cartoon I drew around the death of Pope John Paul II. The incident of its spiking even got the attention of the author David Wallis, who included it in his 2006 book entitled “Killed Cartoons“.

Anyway, a colleague here suggested the reason I’m not getting feedback on the red shoe cartoon is because most of the area’s defensive Roman Catholics are in the midst of their pilgrimages to Washington D.C. and New York City. However, it seems the newspapers I syndicate are taking a pass on running.

I just received one letter of outrage:

As much as I am a fan of Graeme MacKay’s political cartoons I do feel that this one is pushing the boundaries as far as is possible without inciting riots la Danish cartoons negatively portraying Mohammad.

I am certainly no George W. Bush sympathizer but depicting him as the devil does seem to be pushing those aforementioned boundaries. Furthermore, the cartoon also paints the Prada-wearing Pope in a negative light. As the cartoon certainly seems to be a reference to the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada, are we to assume MacKay sees both men as instruments of darkness? As a Catholic, this cartoon deeply offends me and I hope in the future MacKay thinks twice before attacking the spiritual leader of one billion people.

Marco Fortino, Hamilton

June 30, 2007

My Editor, David Estok, talks about me in his Spectator column today:

Graeme MacKay is a popular person when local school kids tour The Spec building.

Our editorial cartoonist, Graeme regularly takes time out to talk to young people about what he does. There is a reason. Many years ago, Graeme, while on a boy scout tour, spoke with legendary Spec cartoonist Blaine. A little while later, while struggling in high school, a smart and caring teacher noticed his doodling and suggested he sit down with Blaine and talk about it.

It changed his life.

Today Graeme draws five cartoons a week. He starts his day at the morning editorial board meeting where a group of us gather around to talk about the day’s events and decide what the main editorial in The Spectator should be. I often wonder what Graeme is thinking as we talk about national politics, city hall, Hamilton personalities and pretty much everything else in between.

I get to find out later in the day, or the next day, when we see his latest creation.

Sometimes these cartoons are controversial. A recent one about the Pope and the Vatican’s Ten Commandments for safer driving upset some readers.

Graeme, who will celebrate his 10th anniversary as The Spec’s cartoonist July 7, says the local drawings are always the ones that provoke the most reader reaction.

“They sting the most,” he says. “But they are also the most popular.”

The “perfect storm” of a cartoon?

“It is the one with the least amount of words,” MacKay says.

“It means it is all visual … the power of a simple image.”

MacKay and his fellow cartoonists Terry Mosher (Aislin), Brian Gable and Roy Carless recently raised $10,000 for the family of Afghanistan-born Said Shiragha Rahimi, who died suddenly early this year.

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Kind words from the big cheese… in other news…

Between now and the middle of July I’ll be mixing vacation time with the business of “professional development”. My family and I are to off to visit friends in Virginia and Delaware, and between that I’ll be at the 50th annual Convention of Editorial Cartoonists in Washington D.C. I’ll take pictures.

June 21, 2007

Irate Roman Catholics sound off here:

Steve Dunn writes:

You forgot one item in your intended insult to our Pope and Roman Catholics in your June 21 ‘cartoon in the Spec.An arrow Sign pointing to ‘Heaven’ in the direction the Pope was driving would be the right message.

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Here’s one I happened to come across which was printed in the News-Advertiser in Durham Region Ontario under the headline “No reason to mock driving commandments”:

To the editor:

I started reading the Friday, June 22 issue of the News Advertiser, and after the front page, I went, as usual, to the editorial page. I was surprised to see the cartoon entitled, ‘THE VATICAN ISSUES SAFE DRIVING COMMANDMENTS- WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS’.

This cartoon equates sexual abuse cases to moral value beliefs of the Catholic Church — contraception and same sex marriage — and throws in the issue of women priests.

How can you make this comparison and attack the beliefs of so many of your readers? Why compare the horrors of sexual abuse to a stance against contraception and same sex marriage and the tradition of not allowing women priests?

I am extremely offended by the cartoon and feel that your paper is promoting anti-Catholicism, if not hatred of Catholics and what they believe and hatred of the Catholic Church.

Have you read the Safe Driving Commandments? Which ones are you against? In brief, are you against: 1, do not kill; 2, do no harm; 3, be courteous; 4, be charitable; 5, do not dominate others with a car; 6, drive only when fit; 7, support victims’ families; 8, promote forgiveness; 9, protect the vulnerable; or 10, feel responsible for others? Which of these deserve your paper’s ridicule and derision?

Maybe you should publish these commandments in detail like other papers have done and support them instead of ridiculing them.

Larry Noonan
Pickering

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Dear Editor,

The Spectator’s penchant for anti-Catholic cartoons (July 12), articles (July 11) and letters (July 14) exposes just how ignorant and irresponsible the media has become.

Contrary to letter writer Joseph Leo it is not “arrogance” but “love” that allows the Pope and Catholics to assert their faith as the one true religion. The Catholic Church is the only church today that can be traced directly back to Christ, The Messianic King, whose coming was foretold in Jewish Scripture. All other Christian denominations are thus “defective” in the sense (and to the degree) that they have arbitrarily chosen to sever themselves from Catholic belief. This radical decentralization of truth which has expressed itself over the years in various forms and Christian denominations such as Protestantism and Anglicanism means not a turning toward Christ but a turning toward oneself, that is, the people. The biblical concept “people of God” thus becomes “we are the people”, a movement that no longer groups itself around the traditional laws but simply go off on their own. This is how the Soviet Union began, i.e. with a “people’s democracy” that was simply a lie. While other Christian bodies can play a role in bringing people to salvation, it is in the Catholic Church that the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth.

Though there are rays of truth in other religions, the “fullness” of truth resides in the Catholic Church. Hence, it is an act of charity for Catholics to pray for others so that they too may come to a full realization of the truth. To think otherwise would be to embrace the hypocritical doctrine of moral relativism that says all religions are equal even though they all contradict one another. This is the prevalent mentality of modern man. It is the nihilistic rationale behind our culture of death which champions anti-life causes that include homosexuality, embryonic stem cell research, abortion, contraceptives and divorce. Ironically such people who keep their lives for themselves, end up losing it out of fear of giving it away. The Catholic Church in contrast reaches out to all – it breathes the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Sincerely,
Paul Kokoski

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To the editor:

Re: June 22 editorial cartoon, ‘The Vatican issues safe driving commandments’.

As a community newspaper, the News Advertiser should not belittle groups within the community they serve. I take exception to the cartoon and find it demeaning to my religion. Your type of newspaper should respect all groups within the community and a decision should be taken by your editorial staff to avoid publishing this type of material in the future.

Susan Kennedy

Ajax

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To the editor:

Re: Editorial cartoon, June 22.

Long ago, an evil man began an evil plan. Some of his earlier attempts at maligning a people were to print cartoons in the newspapers. The way he depicted Jews was offensive, yet very persuasive. At the time it seemed harmless. History shows us otherwise.

The expression of hatred against identifiable groups or people distinguished by their colour, race, religion or ethnic origin is always a tragedy. Last Friday’s cartoon depiction of the Catholic church was disturbing and was clearly designed to incite and promote hostility against a people. It demonstrated ignorance with respect to Catholic teaching and exposed the illustrator’s own intolerance and bigotry.

The Catholic church is not alone in its refusal to yield to the pressures of the day. Many religions do not support same-sex marriage, contraception, abortions or women priests/pastors/rabbis. This cartoon would not have made it to print if it depicted Judaism or Islam.

I am not condemning free speech, but it is the responsibility of everyone to confront prejudice and indifference and ensure that truth prevails.

For those who truly take the time to familiarize themselves with Catholic teaching, they cannot deny that at its very root is the promotion of love, sanctity and dignity for every human being and offers liberation rather than oppression.

Kelly Hughes

Oshawa

FEEDBACK

What an illiterate gullible stance to maintain, that the catholic religion is the “one true religion”. Wherever did you find credence for that nonsense? It’s archaic, bigoted, misogynistic views have no real proof of authenticity other than the cult-programmed “faithful”, who still want to believe some big daddy in the sky is responsible for saving them, with no action required on the individuals part.

Christina Boris (October 10, 2008)